Every Step, A Reason
by DarkHeroAxel
Summary: A challenge has been placed. Young Mary sets out on a journey with stipulations, one that would give her what she really sought, and make some friends along the way. But the road is frought with danger, one that might be more than any one person can handle... (using Aichiya Sanae's Touhoumon 1.8 patch)
1. Chapter 1

**DAY 1-11:00; Sunny**

Tomorrow was shaping up to be the best day of my life. The Professor said he had planned to give us our first partners and set us on our journey of Kanto. I'd be lying if I said the excitement was keeping me up a bit. But it's hard to get a good night's sleep when you know that tomorrow, your entire life will be in an instant. Me and Ren, going out on a journey! I could hardly wait. Even still, it wouldn't really do to be my first day and looking like a total wreck due to no sleep at all, now that I think about it. With a bit of reluctance, I turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep.

That night, the strangest dreams occurred. It was as if I was looking into another world, one that looked similar to Kanto, but much more fertile. It had rolling pastures, massive mountains, and almost everywhere you looked, you could tell it was a land of great diversity. It seemed as though I was alone in this void, and it felt quite dark and depressing. But from the corner of my eye, I noticed something. At first, when I was looking at it, it seemed like a rip of some sort, like you would see in a piece of cloth. But upon further inspection, it was a rip in _nothing_. Like, it was just floating there. However, before I had time to really think about this, I heard a voice from inside it.

"Do you want to know more?" it said. It seemed like a woman's voice, but all I could see in this…gap, I guess I should call it, was pure black. "Does the world you see intrigue you?"

A little halfheartedly, I nodded. "The World you see before you isn't your own. Would you like to know more?" I was getting a little nervous now, but also even more curious. As I reached my hand to this mysterious gap…

…a piercing noise woke me up. Took me a second to see it was my alarm clock. God, I hate that alarm clock. Even though I know it was all a dream, it all felt so real. I could almost feel the cool breeze on my face. And who was that voice? It had a chilling tone to it that made me the slightest bit nervous just thinking about it. Most dreams that have voices I can't see are usually ones I know, too…

I would have thought about that more, but then I noticed the clocks time.

And then it hit me.

**CRAP, I OVERSLEPT!**

Oh man, the Professor is gonna kill me for this! As I hurried out of bed and into my clothes, I ran down the stairs as fast as I could. In hindsight, that was a horrible idea, as not past the first step did I trip and tumble down every single step afterwards. If this had been any other day, that would have hurt like hell. But today is a very special day, and I wasn't gonna let massive amounts of pain stop me!

As I hurried out the door, I noticed Mom had a bag lunch ready for me. It's as if she knew I was going to be late. She always leaves for work early, so I guess I owe it to her for planning ahead.

Oh, silly me, I guess I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Maribel Han, but everyone around here calls me Mary. My best friend, Renko Usami (that's Ren for short), and I live here in cozy Pallet town, next to the famed Puppet Professor Oak.

Yesterday, the Professor came to both of us and asked if we wanted to go on a journey for him to help his research. Frankly, I'd been living in this dinky little town for about 3 years now, and I'm sick of it. Ren, however, looked a little nervous about leaving. She was always sort of a shy one, and it always took a lot of effort to get her to simply leave the house, much less going on adventure. But I was always there to protect her, because that's what friends do. Ever since we were both little, I was always watching out for her, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I eventually talked her into it, so we would both head out on our own respective journeys to explore the world. We thought it would be a friendly competition.

The only reason she wanted to really go on this journey was to help her grandfather's research. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yeah, Ren is Professor Oak's granddaughter, and it's probably at least one of the reasons the good Doc decided to let us do this. However, the Professor had sprung this idea on us late last night, after an accident had forced us to use some of the Professor's Puppets to defend ourselves. As a result, he told us that since it was so late, he would wait to give us our partners until the next morning.

And so, here we are, with me heading to the good doc's lab, going to start our amazing adventure. And I plan on writing it all in this diary so that I can keep the experiences forever.

Just out of the corner of my eye, however, I saw something. It looked like the gap…_thing_ I saw in my dream. I only noticed it for a split second, and when I realized I missed it, it was gone. Maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me. Yeah, that's probably it.

Cmon, Mary, snap out of it! It's the biggest day of your life! There's no time to be worrying about crazy things that aren't there! There's adventure to get to!

As I shook those thoughts out of my head, I took the first steps into the first day of my new life. Not as just some faceless nobody, but as a trainer, an explorer, a whole new me!

From past the gap, a mysterious figure watches Mary carefully. "Hm, she doesn't seem to have awakened yet.", she said to herself. "Well, no matter, the fun is just getting started, it seems."

-Prologue End


	2. Chapter 2

DAY 11-11:15: Partly Cloudy

In hindsight, it's probably a good thing that I ended up living really close to the lab, because it prevented me from being too late, anyway. As I rushed to the lab, I burst into the door…and there was no one there.

Well, ok, there was one person there. Ren, to be exact, who seemed to be standing around doing not a lot of anything. She noticed me when I came in (considering the ruckus I made coming in, I'd be surprised if she didn't), but she didn't seem too mad that I was late. She had something of a worried look on her face.

As I walked up to her, she greeted me, and I asked "Where's the Professor? Wasn't he supposed to be here an hour ago?"

"He was," she replied, "but I got here on time and he hasn't been back since. I tried asking around to see if some of the neighbors saw where he went, but none of them knew anything."

I was starting to get worried myself, and told her, "Maybe he's just doing some research on Route 1 again and just lost track of time. Wouldn't be the first time, anyway, and you know how he likes to rush out early to study."

"I guess that's possible, but he's never out this late." She replied back. "Plus, if he was, we'd have no way of getting to him, cause of all the wild Puppets roaming around. We might get hurt…"

"Well, that's probably where he is then. The only other way out of town is through the sea, and last I checked, he doesn't have a boat or anything with Surf, so chances are he simply forgot about it," I said. "I'm gonna go check and see if I can refresh his memory a bit." With that, I started to head back outside.

"Well…alright…but be careful, ok?" I heard her say as I left the building. She's probably right, this really isn't' a good idea, but there's really not much else we can do, besides wait for who knows how long for him to come back. It's probably not a good idea to go really deep into the Tall Grass, though, as it probably would be pretty dangerous. Well, Route 1 is pretty straight; I should be able to find him pretty easily from just the exit. If I'm lucky, I won't even need to enter the route, and I can just get him to notice me and then we can get on with all this already.

When I got to the Route 1 entrance, I didn't see any sign of the Professor, so I took a bold, if somewhat risky, move of going deeper into the route, and by extension, the tall grass. There goes my hopes of finding him before stepping foot in the dangerous parts. It seems luck was with me, though, as nothing tried to attack, so I made my way through the route looking for him.

About halfway through the route, I finally noticed the Professor, but it seemed he was speaking to someone. Having a chat with someone, out here in a dangerous route? This seemed rather suspicious, especially since the person he was talking with didn't seem from around here. Her outfit, a deep purple dress, a pale pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon, and smaller ribbons tied liberally on her accessories and the tips of her hair, all while carrying some kind of parasol, seemed almost out of place in the quaint route. Neither of them had noticed me, so I decided to do a little investigating and hid in some nearby bushes to listen in on the conversation.

"…are you sure they're ready for this?" I heard the Professor say. "With the way things are now, it's more dangerous than ever, and I'm sure you know that."

The woman replied, "Of course, Professor, this is something you and I both know. However, we also both realize it must be done for them to grow. It's going to be necessary for them to do so to survive the coming trials, even if success isn't guaranteed…" she trailed off on.

I could have sworn I'd heard that voice before, but I just couldn't put my finger on it…

"At this point," the figure continued, "it doesn't matter whether they're ready or not. This is something they must do, and if delayed, might end up to haunt us all. You realize this, don't you Professor?"

I could see him hesitate a bit, and then reply "…yes, I do, Yukari. Very well, we'll go through with this. All I can do is pray for their safety…" he said with a tone of resignation in his voice.

"I knew you'd see it my way, Professor," I heard her say with a hint of pride in her voice. "Then, you might as well run along. I'm sure they've been waiting for you for a while now."

I took this moment to get a quick look of what was happening, but when I did, I only saw the Professor there; the woman he referred to as Yukari was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air…

However, I decided to not worry about that for now, as this was the perfect time to approach the professor. So I sneaked back a little ways down the route, to give the impression that I had only got there, and shouted **"****HEEEEEY, PROFESSORRRRR"** as loud as I could. If anything, it seemed to get his attention, at least, as he came running down the route towards me.

"Mary, what are you doing here?!" He replied in a hurry. "You know the route is dangerous without a partner for protection!"

"Well, Ren's been waiting an hour for you to get back, and you know how she is," I replied. "If I hadn't have come out, we might have been waiting another hour for you to come back."

"Wait, I was supposed to meet you at 10 AM, and its only-OH MY, YOUR RIGHT!" He realized as he looked at his watch. "I must have completely lost track of time with my research. We'd better get back quick; Ren must be worried sick right now."

The professor took off at a blinding pace back to the Lab. As I made my way back, the words of that strange woman still rung in my head. "This is something they must do, and if delayed, might end up to haunt us all." I assume she meant Ren and I, but I still don't understand what she meant by that. Is there some greater reason the professor is giving us a partner? And why come out to such a secluded place just to speak with this woman? Something is happening in the background here, and it's starting to give me a bad feeling…

I decided to put those thoughts away for now, and focus on the matter at hand: Starting this little adventure. I'd imagine that more answers of this will probably come to light as I go, considering that was what this Yukari was urging the Professor to get to anyway.

When I had gotten back to the Lab, the Professor was already waiting for me. Ren seemed relieved, too, and definitely more relaxed now. As I walked up to where Ren was standing, I could see they were talking with one another.

"…so you see, Renko," the Professor was saying, "the reason I was late was because I saw this rare type of Puppet out in Route 1. I couldn't tell what it was at the time, but it looked nothing like the native species in the area. As a Professor, I couldn't miss this opportunity, so I headed out as soon as I could, but even still, I never did find that Puppet again. Apparently, I must have spent quite a while out there, and lost track of time, so I'm sorry if I worried you."

"No, that's fine." Ren replied. "I know how important your research is to you. After all, that's one of the reasons we're going out here in the first place. I'd really appreciate it if you left a note next time this happens, though…"

"I'll most certainly keep that in mind. Oh, and perfect timing, Mary's here as well.", said the Professor.

Now wait just a minute. I know for a fact that he was not out there stalking some rare Puppet for research. Why would he lie to Ren like that? Was this talk I saw earlier something that wasn't supposed to be seen? That explains why he wanted to speak with her in the middle of a somewhat dangerous route, but for it to be that important…

"Welcome back, Mary." Ren said with a smile on her face. "And thanks for finding Grandpa for me. I know that was really dangerous for you…"

"It's all right," I replied. "I couldn't just leave things like that. Besides, if this rare Puppet was that important, chances are if I hadn't gone looking for him, we'd have been here another hour in the least." I decided to keep what I saw a secret for now. If there was a reason he wasn't telling Ren about this, chances are it must have been an important one.

"Well, all that matters is we're here now," said the Professor. "We might as well get started with it all, now that we're all here."

He made a motion to the table to the right of us. On it were 3 orbs. "On this table," he continued, "are 3 of my most prized Puppets. To get you started on your journey, you both are free to take any one of these for yourselves. Now, which one of you would like to go first in their choice?"

I was about to let Ren pick the first one, but she beat me to it and said "I want Mary to have the first pick. After all, she did walk through a field of wild Puppets to go find you, so I'd say she deserves it."

"An excellent idea, Ren," replied the Professor. "I'd say she's earned the right for that. Wouldn't you agree, Mary?"

"Well," I said in return, "I guess I can't turn down the offer if both of you think it's a good idea. Alright, I'll pick first." After saying that, I made my way over to the table.

Inside each of the 3 orbs was a Puppet. The Professor mentioned earlier that they were each of a rare type, so I had to choose wisely. I peered inside the first orb, and in it was a cSanae, a Miko Puppet. She seemed like she was deep in sleep at the time. When I was looking at the Puppet, I heard the Professor say "That one there is cSanae. It's very easy to raise, and has many different uses."

The next orb had a cReisen, the Moon Rabbit Puppet. The Professor chimed in when I looked at it, "That one there is a cResien, and while it may be difficult to raise, with enough care put into it, it can be a powerful Puppet." It seemed bursting with energy, as even it's ball was moving slightly from the Puppet's energy.

Finally, I looked into the last orb, and what I saw was a Puppet I'd never seen before. She seemed to have a kind of string around her fingers, and it flowed throughout her body. She seemed to have a kind of grumpy expression on her face, as if she couldn't stand where she was. The Professor, timely as always, said, "Ah, you seem to be interested in that one. She is a cAlice, the Puppeteer Puppet, and although her temperament may make her a difficult partner, raising her with patience will give great results."

"So, wait," I told the Professor, "she's a puppeteer…while also being a puppet herself?"

"Indeed. She controls her own Puppets, and is very knowledgeable about them to boot."

Now that intrigued me. Having a partner who knew more about Puppets than I do would be a great help, even if that temperament thing the Professor mentioned worried me a bit. Still, there wasn't a single doubt in my mind; she was definitely my choice. Without hesitation, I picked up the ball for myself and pressed the button. A bright light flashed, and when it had died down, a lone figure was standing on the table.

"Ugh, finally," it said. "Being confined to that orb was dreadful. Terribly tight, and not a lot to do in there either." She looked as though she was stretching her joints out a bit. "The fact that you let me out means you must be my new master, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I replied. "I'm Mary, and from now on, we're gonna be traveling together. It's nice to meet you!"

"Master Mary…has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" She asked. "Regardless, my name is Shinku, and it's a joy to meet you." As she said this, she shook my hand in greeting. "Anything's better than staying in this stuffy place for the rest of my life. I was honestly worried that one of you would have left me here. I think we're going to have a wonderful time together."

"Likewise!" I replied with a smile.

"Oh wow, you haven't even begun your journey, and your already friends with your first partner!" replied Ren. "Plus, she's so cute, too! Okay, it's my turn now," She said with an excited grin on her face. As she surveyed the remaining 2 orbs, she stopped on the middle one, and released it. After the brief flash of light, sitting on the table was the cReisen I saw earlier. "Hai, I'm Inaba, nice to meet'cha~" it said with a big grin on its face.

Ren immediately grabbed the puppet and gave her a big hug, saying "I think we're gonna get along just fine!" The smile she had on her face was bigger than I've ever seen it.

"Well then", I heard Shinku say, "Should we be heading out soon? It would be good to get a head start on our journey, especially before it gets too dark."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I replied back. I turned to the professor and said, "Thanks for the Partner, Professor. I'm sure we'll get along just fine. We're gonna head out and make the trek to the next town, so we better get going."

As I was about to head out, I heard a "WAIT" from the back of the lab, coming from Ren. "I was thinking," she said, "that we should have our first real battle be with each other!"

I thought for a moment, and said "Sure, I'd be up for that. What about you, Shinku?"

"I suppose it would be a good warm up to get myself into things," the Puppet replied. "And besides, you're the Master here; it's ultimately your call."

"Alright then," I replied, "let's do it then!" Both of the puppets took positions on opposite sides of the lab with that. I looked over to the Professor, who was watching the battle intently.

"Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'm not gonna go easy on you, Ren!" I told her. "And I expect you to do the same!"

Before Ren could even respond, Inaba had already taken a battle stance in front of her. She had a determined look on her face, ready for battle.

"Master Mary," Shinku said, "please tell me you know what you're doing."

"Uuuuhhhhh…I really don't, no." I answered back honestly.

I saw her sigh to herself a bit, and then she said "Alright, we both only have the moves Pound and Growl, so this will be rather uneventful. I can block attacks, but that won't last forever." She looked back at me after she finished. "I take it you understood all that right?"

"Yeah, I got the gist of it anyway." I replied back. "Besides, it's our first battle, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Please don't say that, Master Mary." She replied. "It's almost asking for things to go wrong. Regardless, here she comes, get ready."

Sure enough, while we were discussing strategy, Inaba had already started to make her move, barreling down the make-shift arena at an unexpected speed, closing in for a Pound attack. Before I could command Shinku anything, 4 objects appeared seemingly out of nowhere and came together in front of Shinku. There was a bright flash, and when it subsided, a rather large Golden Shield was between Shinku and Inaba's attack.

The golden shield shook from the impact, and it looked like Shinku had felt some of the blow a bit even with it blocking the brunt of the attack. However, so had Inaba, as her hand turned a light shade of red from the hit, and she was definitely showing signs of pain from the attack.

The shield had another flash, and it came apart into the 4 object I saw earlier, and now that I got a good look at them, I noticed that they were miniature dolls, and each was connected by a string to one of Shinku's fingers. Each of them went behind her back and vanished.

"I told you," Shinku said, "I can block attacks, but not forever. However, now's our chance to strike!"

"Right, Shinku, hit her back with a Pound!" I ordered.

Upon saying this, another doll appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. It flew across the battlefield and caught Inaba, who was still reeling with the recoil of her last attack, with a mean right hook. It looked as though it scored a critical, as she was seriously starting to get bruised up. The doll quickly went back to Shinku's side and disappeared.

"We can't lose that easily!" said Ren. I'd never seen her this fired up before. "We've got to try again. Inaba, try another Pound!"

Without another word, Inaba was once again racing toward Shinku for another attack, but the same result occurred. Inaba was really starting to show her fatigue, as the resulting counter had left her lying on the floor, and struggling to get back up again.

"I believe we can call this match here," chimed in the Professor. "Any more would probably put the puppets in some noticeable danger."

"You're probably right, professor," I agreed with him. I ran over to Ren to check on her and said "How's Inaba doing? Sorry if we went a little overboard."

She shook her head and said "No, its fine. After all, neither of us were holding back, right? Inaba will be fine, too, with a little rest."

Battered and bruised, Inaba looked a little worse off than I imagined, but she had enough energy to say "I'm SO going to beat you next time, Shinku" before passing out.

"Hmph, we'll see, dear, we'll see…" Shinku trailed off.

With that, Ren turned to me and said "I'm gonna go get packed and get started. You probably should, too, Mary," she said with a smile. After that, she turned and headed out the door of the lab.

"Well done, Master Mary," I heard Shinku say behind me. "Not bad at all for your first ever battle. I'd say I'm in good hands for now."

I turned to her and said "Look, Shinku, do you mind dropping the 'master' part? It sounds so stuffy."

"I'll try…Master Mary."

I sighed a bit to myself. Something tells me I should have seen that coming. "Well," I told her, "we should get back to our house and pack; we're gonna need all the supplies we can get."

"Wait!" I heard her say as I was getting her orb out. "Do you mind…if I walk with you instead? I'm not entirely fond of the standard orbs…" I noticed the apprehension in her voice a bit. It must really bother her. That'll be good to keep in mind for later.

I thought for a second, and told her "All right, but as long as you keep up with me. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, after all."

"Thank you, Master Mary," she replied. "I really appreciate that."

With that, we both made our way out and into the start of our new life.

-Chapter 1 END


	3. Chapter 3

Day 1–2:00 PM; Sunny

After my first battle with Shinku, we both headed back home to pack for the journey. It was gonna be a long trip, so we might need a lot of things for it.

When we got back to our house, everything was still locked tight. Guess Mom hadn't got back home from work yet. Must have been a late shift or something...

Regardless, we made our way inside and I headed for the kitchen to start packing. "I take it this is where you live?" asked Shinku. "I expected more…well, liveliness, since this is a rather big day for you."

"Well, Mom always works late, so I kind of expected this." I replied. "She must have gotten extra busy again."

She gave me a curious look, and asked "What does she _do_, exactly? Must be quite an important job if she missed out on a day like today."

"Well, I know she works really high up in management, but that's all I really know." I told her. "Still, she's had this job ever since we first moved here, so I've grown accustomed to it. Even still, she's been more busy than usual lately, so she's been working late more often these days."

"I suppose that's fair, or at least somewhat so," she replied. "Still, one question is nagging at me; where exactly is your Dad?"

I paused for a second and replied "…I never really met Dad. When I asked Mom about is, she told me he died when I was really young, so I never got to know him."

She seemed shocked by this, and said "I…I'm sorry, I had no idea…"

"Its fine, you couldn't have known." I replied back. "I usually don't think about it much anyway, so don't worry about it." I sat my bag on the table and said "Your free to explore the house, since I'll be here just packing things, and we won't be back here for a while."

"I must admit, I _am_ interested in seeing what kind of place Master lives in…" she replied absentmindedly as she walked off to explore.

"Remember to stay out of Mom's room!" I told her as she walked off. I'm not sure if she was paying any attention to me, but I hope so. In the meantime, it was a good time to pack.

You know, it had been a really long time since I thought about dad. It's true I never really met him, but I do wonder what kind of person he was. Mom always said he was really kind, and always put others over himself, regardless if it would end up hurting him later.

After packing everything I think we needed, I heard Shinku walking down the steps to the kitchen. "You know," she told me, "for only you and your mother living here, this is quite a large house."

"Mom always said she liked the extra space. Dunno why though." I told her. "Perfect timing actually, you can help me check what we need for our trip." I handed her a yellow sticky note with a checklist of all the materials we needed.

Shinku took the time to climb up onto the table where my bag was currently sitting. I never took her for being so athletic, but that goes to show much I don't know about Puppets. "Well, are you ready?" She asked me.

"Ok, let's see…Food."

"Check."

"Water."

"Check."

"Extra clothes?"

"Check."

"Money?"

"Check."

"Then I think that's everything." I told her. "Thanks, Shinku; that helped a lot."

"Always glad to be of service, Master." she said with a smile on her face. "Shall we head out now? From the map I saw in your room, the closest town to here is Viridian City. It also said there was a Gym there, but it said that one was the eighth one, strangely…"

"Well, it's a good place to start, regardless." I replied. "It's also the only town we can really get to through Route 1, so we really don't have many options."

With that, I put on the newly filled bag, and we headed out. There was no sign of Ren; she probably got a head start on us. With our only path ahead of us being north through Route 1, we made our way through the tall grass towards Viridian.

Not 5 steps into the grass, we we're jumped by a wild cTokiko, and my heart skipped a beat when its fist nearly collided with Shinku's face, only to be stopped dead in its tracks by her shields.

"You really need to relax, master." She replied. "Nothing here really poses a threat after our fight with your friend Ren. And if one gets a lucky blow in, we still have that potion in reserve." As she said this, she pushed the cTokiko back using the shield and knocked it out with a quick Pound. "Now then, shall we continue?"

I'd imagine I had a slack jawed look on my face after that. Perhaps part of me didn't expect my partner to be so much more experienced than I was at this. Regardless, I shook off the shock at this and we continued down Route 1. Along the way, Shinku and I had a couple of other fights with some of the random Puppets, which she was able to take down rather handily. We did have to use that potion, though, and the repeated battles we're starting to take their toll on her.

Within the hour, we had reached our first destination on our journey: Viridian City. Compared to Pallet, things we're more bustling than our little town in the middle of nowhere. There was a lot more buildings scattered about, and the area had a more industrial feel to it.

"First, we need to get you the Center for some treatment," I told Shinku. "Those fights took a lot out of you, and I'm worried about you."

She was starting to limp a bit, and her dress was torn in places. "I'm fine," she replied. "Most of this is just exterior wounds anyway; they'll heal on their own."

"As the trainer, it's my job to make sure you're alright," I told her. "We already used the only healing item we had earlier, so we're going to at least get you checked up before we move on."

She grunted a bit to herself, and replied "Very well. You _are_ the trainer here."

With that, we made our way to the Center, which was conveniently located close to the entrance to the city. Walking inside, the building had a yellow tile all throughout the inside. Standing behind a counter in the back of the Center was a Pink haired woman in a Nurse's outfit.

"Hello, and welcome to the Puppet Center!" she greeted us with a smile. "Would you like us to heal your puppets for you?"

Reluctantly, Shinku let me pick her up and put her onto the counter. "She needs some treatment from all the training," I told the nurse.

"Just the one?" She asked. "Did you just recently start your journey?"

"Yeah, I just got here from Pallet Town," I replied.

"Excellent!" She said. "In that case, let me give you a rundown of what the Centers do. You see, for any and all trainers, Puppet Centers offer free healing of all your partners, as well as free rooms for trainers who need a place to stay. Along with that, all trainers are free to use the PC in the back for storing Puppets as well."

"Wow, all of that is free?" I asked? "If that's the case, how do you afford to stay open like this?"

"Oh, that's an easy one," she replied. "The Centers and the Marts are both part of the same system, so part of its profits flow into here. I'd personally recommend stopping there before leaving for the next town." As she was saying this, she placed Shinku on a special machine behind her.

"Oh, by the way," I asked her, "the map said that this city had a gym. What can you tell us about that?"

After she set the machine up behind her, she paused for a minute, and said "Well, the leader for that particular gym went missing years ago, and no one's seen him since. I heard he was an incredibly powerful trainer, though, and was considered the final Gym Leader when he was still around."

"Well, there goes that idea," I replied.

"The nearest town with a gym is Pewter, and you can get there by heading north through Viridian Forest," she responded. A chime on the machine went off behind her, and she turned and picked up Shinku and placed her back on the counter. "There, now your partner is fully healed. We hope to see you again!"

I looked at Shinku and asked "Well, how do you feel?"

"I'll admit, I _do_ feel refreshed," she replied. "Although I'm not quite sure how that machine fixed my dress…"

"That's a trade secret, dear," the nurse replied with a wink. "Good luck on your journey, you two."

With that, we left the Center. I looked at Shinku and said "Perhaps that nurse was on to something. We're gonna need to stock up on supplies before we head out again."

"Well, what do we need?" she asked back.

"Definitely some Potions and Antidotes," I told her. "Some Orbs would be good to, as we probably will want to gather some more members to our team."

"The map of town at the center said the Market wasn't far from here," Shinku said. "If anything, getting some supplies wouldn't hurt."

After a little bit of searching around town, we came across a building with a Blue roof in the same manner the Center had a Red one, with the sign "PUPPET MART" written on it.

When we went inside, we were greeted with the rows upon rows of items all placed on racks that took up most of the space in the building. Everything from Potions to Orbs was present in them.

We walked up to the counter, and there was a clerk standing there, seemingly taking inventory and loading a large crate around. "Excuse me", I asked, "can we get some help over here?"

He noticed us, and put the crate down on the counter. "Oh, sorry about that, miss. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I just became a trainer a while ago, and need supplies…" I told him.

Before I could finish, he cut me off and said "Wait a minute…does that mean you came from Pallet town?"

I eyed him curiously, and responded "Yes…what about it?"

"Oh, this is perfect!" He said. "Does that mean you know Professor Oak? If so, can I get you to do a favor for me?"

I asked, "What kind of favor?"

As I said this, the shopkeeper brought out a small package and placed it on the counter. "I need THIS," he said as he motioned to it, still out of breath from lifting it, "delivered to Professor Oak. My delivery boy has been sick for the week, and no one's been able to cross the tall grass to get to there and deliver it. It would save me a lot of time and effort, and if you do, I can give you a discount on anything you like when you come back. So, what do you say?"

On the one hand, I'd have to walk all the way back to Pallet through the tall grass. On the other, having a discount at the shop would probably be a big boon for me this early on, and I'm sure the Professor would appreciate his package if it means that much to him.

With that thought, I said "Sure, I'll take it to the Professor. I already know the route, so that's fine, I guess."

"Oh, thank you so much!" The Shopkeeper replied, obviously overjoyed. As he handed me the package, he said "When you get back, I'll give you a 50 percent discount on anything in the shop."

I slipped the package into my backpack, waved goodbye to the shopkeeper, and headed back to Pallet. As we were walking out, Shinku said "You know, you really shouldn't let others push you around like that. Because of this, we're going right back the way we came."

"Well," I told her, "we are getting a good deal out of this. And Pallet isn't all that far from here, so it's not a huge setback."

She seemed to consider this for a second, and said "Even still, you agreed to that far too quickly." She went a bit ahead and said "Well, since you've dragged us into this, we might as well finish it, yes?"

As we made our way down Route 1, and fought some wild puppets along the way, right when we got to around the halfway point, I noticed Shinku visibly tense up. "Something wrong, Shinku?" I asked.

She shushed me and said "Be quiet for a moment. We are not alone out here…"

"My my, aren't you a clever little doll." I heard as the voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. "I hadn't expected you to detect me that easily, but I should have known better from one of Oak's puppets."

"Where is that voice coming from?" I asked Shinku. That voice seemed familiar somehow…

"Dear, I'm _everywhere_." I heard the voice reply. "But I suppose speaking like this is rather rude, now that I think about it. Give me a moment to make myself more…presentable, shall we say."

Right after saying that, one of the 'gaps' from earlier seemed to appear right in front of me, and out walked the woman I saw talking with the Professor earlier. If I wasn't focused on the fact that I wanted answers from this woman, my mind would have had difficulty processing the acts that were happening in front of my face. But right now, I was determined to get facts.

After she had walked all the way out of the…gap in the air behind her, she brushed off her dress and said "You know, I was going to wait to have this discussion until you had started your journey proper, but your little friend is more perceptive than I anticipated…", glaring at Shinku as she finished.

"You're that woman that Professor Oak was talking to, Yukari, right?" I asked her.

"Yes, and there's a reason that we had that meeting out in a field full of wild puppets that most people wouldn't be able to eavesdrop with ease, and yet you were able to anyway," she replied as she looked almost…pouty. "I take it you want answers from what you heard now, and was not going to take no for an answer, either."

I wasn't prepared for that kind of reaction. It was almost as if she knew me personally. It was a tad unsettling. I must have shown it in my face too, as Yukari had a smug look on her face while I was processing this. I never was very good at hiding my emotions like that.

"Well, since you're so curious, let's make a game out of this," she says as she turns her back to me and started to walk away, with that same smug expression. Turning around suddenly, she said "I could just tell you everything now, but where would the fun be in that? So let's make it a bet."

She leaned down and got really close to my face and continued "You're already planning on taking the league challenge, correct? Then we can work from that. All I need to do is add a…restriction to the journey." She leaned back and seemed to ponder this for a couple seconds, before an idea seemed to come to her. "I've got it…a catching restriction. So the bet will be this: You're only allowed to catch one puppet you see per route, until the very end of your journey. If you do all of this and succeed, I'll tell you everything. Who I am, what my connection is, what I know about you, and what your future will bring."

Naturally suspicious, I asked "And what if I refuse?"

"Well, for one you'd be killing my enthusiasm," she said with a fake sad look on her face. Seeing how it wasn't working, she dropped the act and said "Ok, to be fair, the only thing you'd be losing is your own information. Turn me down, and you'll never know why I'm here in the first place, where I came from, and more importantly…" she paused as she came close to my ear and whispered, "why your parents are never home."

There are not a whole lot of things that would get me riled up, but things like that would do it easily. "You…what do you know about my parents!?" I stammered out, unsure about things now.

"Oho, now I've got your attention. If that was all it would have taken, I would have mentioned them a while ago." That same smug expression came back as well. "So do we have a deal? You follow my rules till the end of things and then you get the full story."

I felt a slight tugging at my dress and look down to see Shinku looking at me with a worried expression on her face. "I don't fully trust this woman's words, and I can tell she's gotten a bit under your skin. I'd greatly recommend taking a moment to calm down and think this through rationally, Master."

She had a point. Right at this moment, my mind was racing with thoughts of who this woman was, and why she was doing all this, just for information. It was at that point that it really hit me:

The quickest way to get the answers to all this is to take the deal.

I looked back at Shinku and said "Trust me; I know this is probably not a very smart decision, but…this is offering way too many questions, and I need those answers. I hope you'll forgive me for this."

Shinku gave me an almost relieved look, shrugged and said "To be honest, from the time I've known you, I'm not surprised you took the deal. I would have been more worried if you didn't, actually, as it would have made me think I didn't know you at all. And as your partner, I'll do everything I can to help you."

"So it's a deal then?" Yukari interjected. "Excellent, this should be quite fun for both you and I. I'll be keeping my eye on you, so you'd better follow the deal or the bets off. Also, since you don't have any orbs yet, I won't count this route before then, so feel free to catch something here when you come back with actual catching materials." She pointed south, I turned around to look, and she said "Now run along, I'm sure the good professor needs his package delivered. Good luck with your travels~" she said in a playful voice.

"You'd better hold up your end of the bar-"I turned around mid sentence to find she was gone. Simply vanished into thin air, as if she was never there at all.

Shinku looked up at me and said "While I respect your decision, Master, I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Me too, Shinku. Me too." I replied. This meeting had left me with many questions, even more so than when I had first seen her talking with the professor. Suddenly the stakes of this journey had been raised, and things just got more serious. My mind still spinning from all of these new thoughts, we both turned around and started to head back to Pallet.

-Chapter 2 END


	4. Chapter 4

Day 1, 4:00 PM: Sunny/Partly Cloudy

The duo started to make their way back after meeting Yukari and starting "the game" for the truth of it all. Shinku was able to mop up whatever came their way with little issue. It wasn't long until the familiar sight could be seen over the horizon, that being their hometown of Pallet Town. Good thing too, because the parcel was starting to get heavy on her back from the trip back.

"Master, are you sure you are able to function at an acceptable level with the extra weight?" I heard Shinku ask next to me as we approached town.

"I...I'm fine. Besides, w-we're almost there." I said, doing a very poor job of hiding my exhaustion through strained pants. While I was very tired, I was looking at it from a positive perspective; chances are, I'd be doing something similar quite a bit through the journey. Best to get some practice in, right?

We trudged our way over to the lab where Professor Oak was no doubt spending his time at, as usual. Secretly I wanted this thing out of my backpack, whatever it was. I was sort of curious about what was in it, too. Shinku was kind enough to push open the door for me, clearly noticing me struggling. As we walked in, I shouted "PROFESSOR, I GOT A PACKAGE FOR YOU!" at the top of my lungs, entirely done with whatever in the world this package was.

"Oh, hello Mary! A package, you say?" He said as he approached the two of us as I was slinging the backpack off of my back, getting out the somewhat large and inconspicuous box. I brought the box over to the desk in the back of the lab, finding it difficult to stay up now that the weight was off of my shoulders.

"Perfect timing, actually! I was wondering when this would get here, but I certainly didn't expect you two to be bringing it...?"

"Neither did we, but the shopkeep offered Master a benefit to it. And she's too kind hearted for her own good." chimed in Shinku, her expression unchanging as always. I sighed when I realized I couldn't think of anything to say against it, sliding down to the floor to catch my breath.

"Well, this actually works out quite well! The contents of it ar-"

"E-Excuse me, Granpa...?" a familiar voice cut through the discussion, cutting off whatever Professor Oak was going to continue with. It was long before I noticed Ren's form creeping around the corner in her usual sheepish self. She noticed me collapsed on the floor in a mess and rushed over, with a concerned look on her face. "M-Mary! Are you okay?"

"Long...trip, back."

She giggled a little and helped me up. "Did Grandpa have you helping with chores, again?"

"Entirely...my own choice."

"It's appreciated, nonetheless. And quite good timing as well," said Professor Oak, looking at the package, "considering its contents are related to the both of you."

I perked up when I heard that. Ren did the same. "Wait, really?"

"Big sis told me you had something you were supposed to be coming in soon, so I rushed over. I-Is that it?"

"Right, right, don't worry." Unbenknowst to the both of us, the remaining cSanae doll had made its way to the desk right next to the box, gohei in hand. It was enough to make Ren jump right into my arms. I patted her on the back a little with a giggle. Little ninja doll, I swear. With one clean motion, she removed the tape from the package with the gohei and bowed gracefully. Professor Oak dived both hands into the box, there being clearly way too much packing paper in it, before pulling out two small, red book shaped devices.

"I really hope that's not all that was in there," I said, realization hitting me that there was likely about 20 times as much packing peanuts as there was items in it. How in the world was it so heavy?!

"I believe so, but these two objects were definitely worth the trip!" he said, setting down the two devices on the table behind him. "These two objects are my greatest invention. My dream, realized in full! These are ArtBooks, an electronic encyclopedia of Puppets from across the region! From these, you can find the location, statistics, abilities, and information of any Puppet in the database!"

Both of us got wide eyed at the idea of it. "Wooooow, that's so cool, professor!"

"Indeed it is! But there's one small problem: it needs to be filled, and for that, the person holding it needs to catch those puppets, so that it can obtain information on them. And that's where you two come into it! I want you two to take these ArtBooks and fill them with as many puppets as you can find! To make my dream fully realized, I want you two to scour the ends of the Earth, and make this encyclopedia fully complete!" he said as he handed each of us one. It was surprisingly heavy and durable.

I took a moment to observe the object in front of me. It was finely made, and was likely to serve many people down the line once it was fully complete. I flipped it open to find a surprisingly simple interface, and the only Puppets in the system were those of Shinku, which had a detailed description of her in a number of ways, and a few that they had seen in town, which were empty. I took a moment to read over the listing on Shinku.

"A magician that was raised by Shinki in Makai. She has a powerful Grimoire, but she hasn't used it recently." I looked back at Shinku. "...you've got a magic book?" She shrugged, as confused by the information as I was. I flipped the ArtBook back and placed it safely in my bag. Ren did the same after examining Inaba.

"We won't you down, Prof! Between the two of us, we're bound to finish it in no time!" I said in an overly-enthusiastic tone, looking back at Ren. "Right, Ren?"

"Y-Yeah! Definitely! We'll get the whole thing finished, and it'll be a super big help to you, Grandpa!"

He clasped his hands together in happiness. "Excellent to hear, girls! I have a few of my aides placed all around the region, so be sure to check in with them every so often. And remember that I'm always a phone call or e-mail away! Oh, before I forget, I've got one more gift for the both of you..." he said, going back to the box. I KNEW there had to be more in there, from how heavy it was! He pulled out two smalled boxes, and gave us each one. Inside them was 5 small orbs, whose colors seemed to meld together between Red and White like a Yin Yang symbol. "You'll need some orbs to start catching Puppets, so I figure it'd be best to give you a head start!"

I "oooo"'d a little at the box before taking the orbs and placing them in a special compartment in my bag. "T-Thanks, Grandpa! In that case, I'm gonna go ahead and get a head start! I-I'll see you out there, okay Mary? Oh, and don't forget to stop by my house before you go! I-I'll make sure big sis leaves a map out for you, alright?" she said with a shy wave as she made her way out. I loved how confident she was getting with this. It was entirely new for her, but I think it's healthy for her too. As much as I'd like to be with her all the time, I have to let her grow on her own.

Shinku tugging at my skirt snapped me back to reality. "I believe we should be departing as well, Master."

"R-Right, sorry. I guess I got..caught up in it all. Right, we should head out too." I looked back at Professor Oak. "We'll stay in touch, alright? See you soon!" I said as we both waved goodbye, and he did in kind.

Ren was nowhere to be seen when they left. No doubt, she had gone ahead at a surprisingly brisk pace. Chances are they'd run into each other again in no time. Map in hand, Orbs at the ready and goals all around us to fill, the two of us set out beyond this sleepy little town to whatever future awaited us at the end of it all. One way or another, we were going to find it, together.

-Chapter 4 END


	5. Chapter 5

Day 1-5:00 PM: Cloudy

The two of us was off to start their journey, back into the wilds between towns. I was determined to see this thing through to the end, one way or another. Something about Yukari's smug face made me want to win even more.

"Master, I believe the rules of the 'game' start now, correct? You have the means of capture now." Shinku's words rang true. The rules were the first thing I ran into each route was what counted. And now that I have these orbs...

"Right, we've gotta get some new members! Let's see what we can find..." I said, ducking into a nearby patch of grass to avoid detection from whatever wild encounters could be lurking throughout the route. I had to be smart about this, they could be anywhere out he-

"...Master, what are you doing?" I heard Shinku say.

I shushed her, focused on doing this right. I could see her sigh and shake her head out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't let her stop me. I kept my eyes peeled for anything resembling a wild puppet, before one caught my eye: a cNazrin, poking around on the ground with its two dousing rods. It seemed completely unaware of our presence.

I made a motion with my hands indicating the direction the Nazrin was in, and one that said to start moving closer. She tilted her head at me, clearly not understanding my indications. "Get closer, but be quiet!" I whispered, a little upset that she didn't catch on. She realized what I meant, and then nodded, laying down next to me and slowly approaching the wild Puppet.

The two of us crept ever closer, the Nazrin completely oblivious to our location, seemingly very focused on what it was doing. We got closer...and closer...and then, right before we reached it...!

"NOW!" I shouted, Shinku leaping forward and throwing a doll forward winding up a punch. While she did that, I readied an orb for capture behind her. One good punch was all she would need to weaken it enough to try, at least as far as I could tell.

"Hey, what in the-" was all the surprised Nazrin got out before getting socked across the face by the doll. Before she could react, the Orb collided with her head next, turning her into a distinctive red light as it was absorbed into the ball. It wiggled once...twice...a third time...click!

It took my brain a moment to process what just happened. We did it! We caught our first Puppet! "YES!" I let out in pure excitement. I ran over to the orb on the ground to examine it. It looked no different from when I had thrown it earlier, but still, this orb contained a Puppet that we had caught, together! Right as I thought that however, it started to twitch a little, before rumbling violently and the same cNazrin seemed to explode out of the ball. It looked peeved, scratching the back of it's head.

"Jeez, kinda rude of ya, huh, kid? If you wanted a fight, ya coulda just asked instead of sucker punchin' me like that!" it said with a pout.

"Oh...uh..sorry. I didn't know there was an, uh...ettiquite to this. I'm...pretty new."

"Yeah, I could tell. No need for this sneakin' around nonsense, alright?" She sighed. "That said, ya got me, so maybe I'm makin' this big 'a fuss over nothin'. Who knows, really?" She put the two dousing rods on her back, seemingly affixed there, and held out a hand to me. "Name's Zhou. Nice to meet ya. I take it you're gonna be my boss lady, now?"

I took the hand and shook it, somewhat surprised at how firm the handshake was. "Y-Yeah, I guess so. Nice to meet you, too, Zhou! And this here is Shinku, who I started with."

"Ah, so this is the one that sent out that mean right hook, eh? Lemme get a good look at ya..." she said, approaching Shinku and taking a moment to take her in. "...yeah, she's definitely got a fighter's spirit in her. I can feel it. A lot better than I expected from a lab-bred fop, really." she said with a sly grin

The glare that Shinku gave her could practically be felt, but surprisingly Zhou didn't even budge an inch. "Just what...is that supposed to mean?" Shinku said, taking a few steps closer to Zhou. I reached my hand in to keep her from doing something she'd regret, pushing her back slightly. Zhou only let out a hearty laugh at the action. "Just a little playful banter, youngin'. Don't you worry 'bout it."

"Hmm," was all Shinku said as she turned back to me. "I don't think I like this one. Can we try again?" Zhou couldn't help but burst into laughter at that one. "Honest, too! I like this one! We're gonna have a great time!" Shinku's look was almost pleading. "Kill me." Zhou was on the floor laughing by this point.

"Alright, you two, let's get a move on. It's getting late, and we've got some ground to cover," I told the two of them. Zhou picked herself off of the floor, wiping a few tears out of the corner of her eye and followed along just fine. On the way back, she showed her prowess as a fighter too, using those two dousing rods to great effect. Clearly, there was a lot more to her than first appearances.

A quick trip to the Puppet Center to heal up was a good chance to plan out our next route, and also catch Zhou up to speed on the goal. "So, lemme get this straight: this crazy lookin' woman offered you a bet to handicap yourself on the way to the top, and the reward was just to have an open talk with the obviously crazy, mysterious and possibly dangerous person you know nothing about?" Shinku nodded at the relaying of information. "You guys are gonna need all the help you can get, if you're serious about it, might be best to head west and pick us up a new partner ahead of time."

"West?" I asked to Zhou. On the map it said west was the Pokemon League, which they wouldn't be able to enter, but there was a route with some wild Puppet activity on it as well. "Hmm. Probably a good plan. Alright, we'll head there before it gets too late!"

"Attagirl! Lead the way!" Zhou said, both he and Shinku following behind as they took a slight detour. The grounds were paved and built, very different from the route they used to get there. The group was on the lookout for the first puppet they saw, whatever that puppet would be.

"See anything out there, you two?"

"Hmm...nothing yet..they said this area was fairly popu-" Whatever thought was on Shinku's mind was cut off by a sharp scream of fear.

"Well now, that's not what either of us expected today. Wanna check it out?" Zhou asked.

I nodded, and we ran over in the direction of the sound. What we found was quite the scene: A cYousei, clutching a Sitrus Berry, surrounded by at least 10 other Puppets of various types. She was horribly outmatched by the group, and it was clear what was going on.

"Well kid, what's it gonna be? We saw all of these ones first, so I'd say they're all fair game. But what do you wanna do with this?" Zhou said, preparing herself for a fight.

I thought about this for a moment. Realistically, choosing one of the others would probably be a better choice, for being a better fighter. But, something about just leaving the one in the middle to her fate didn't sit well with her.

"...we're helping that one, alright?" I pointed to the Yousei in the middle.

Shinku sighed. "I knew you'd pick the hardest option...alright. Let's go." The two of them got into a fighting stance and rushed into the center of the mob, shielding the small puppet from the group.

"W-What?" said the scared creature. "Don't worry, youngin', we got this!" Zhou said, pushing back a portion with the dousing rods and Shinku throwing a few dolls around them to push back the crowd. During their fights she had picked up the ability to throw kinetic blasts out of her hand, and did so to large swaths of the group with extreme prejudice.

Slowly, the group of wild Puppets realized how outmatched they were against the two of them, and scattered back into the wilderness in fear. "Buncha cowards! Run back home to your mommas!" She said, letting out a hearty laugh. Shinku simply brushed off her dress as she recalled her doll soliders back to her person.

I walked over to the scared Yousei and crouched down to meet her level. "Hey there, are you alright?"

"I-I-I am...thank you. B-But why did you help me? If y-you were looking for a strong Puppet, y-you could have caught any o-of the ones that were trying to a-attack me..."

I placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little, clearly not used to contact. "I guess...I couldn't help it. I didn't have it in me to just leave you to the wolves in this scenario. I'm Mary. What's your name?"

The scared puppet looked like she was about to cry, although of what she couldn't tell what. Maybe at the thought of someone going out of their way to help her? "I-I-I'm Perna...D-Does that mean that...you want me?"

"Only if you'd want to. So, what do you say?"

"Heh, more of a choice than I ever go-oof!" Zhou said, cut off by a jab in the gut by Shinku.

The small doll's eyes couldn't hold back anymore, starting to pour down tears as she rushed forward and hugged me tight. "N-No one's ever believed in me before! I...I promise! I'll make you proud! I-I'll work hard to be the b-best puppet you'll ever have! I'll...I'll..." she tried to get out before the sobs overtook her words. I held her tight through the sobs, feeling a pang of sadness from hearing Perna cry her eyes out at being appreciated for once in her life. It went on for a few minutes, and I wasn't even bothered by it too much. Once she had sufficiently gotten out all of her emotions out, she pulled back a little so we could look at each other. "I-I'm sorry, I just..."

"It's fine, really. We're here for you." I cut her off, keeping a warm smile on my face. Part of me was trying to emulate how my mom used to deal with me back when I was like this, and if her expression was any indication, it seemed to be working.

She sniffed really hard, and tried to give a smile back in return. "O-Okay. Thank you, Mary. I-I'm ready," she said, closing her eyes for the reaction she knew was coming. I took out one of the orbs I was given earier and booped her on her forehead with it, turning her into red light that vanished into the ball. It didn't even wiggle before clicking shut, fully accepting her new life.

"Hah, emotional little one, ain't she? Kinda cute, though. If she's as determined to please as she looks, then she'll pull her weight soon enough." Zhou looked rather introspective, almost, if only for a split second, a little wizened, too.

"Mmm...I think she has potential." Shinku nodded in agreement, looking a little sagely herself.

By the time I had gotten back up, I noticed it had already turned dark. Clearly they had spent a while training and getting to know our new friends. I couldn't keep a yawn down as my body stretched, clearly worn out from the exciting day. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other two yawn soon after, it catching up to the two of them, too. "I think it's about time we all got some sleep. What do you two think?" I said, scooping the two of them up onto my shoulders. Zhou was leaning on me the whole time, barely staying up, while Shinku was able to keep her composure. We gave the group one final check up before heading up to the free rooms provided by the Puppet Center, the beds there feeling fantastic.

Zhou was perfectly fine with going back in his ball, wordlessly touching it on her own and vanishing into the orb, but Shinku was adamant about staying out, eyeing her own rather warily. I sighed a little. "...do you want to sleep with me?" Her entire face lit up like I'd never seen it before, but only for a moment before settling into her normal neutral expression, although I noticed the tinge of a blush. "I-I'd like that...if it's okay with you..."

Without another word, I picked her up and placed her on the bed while I got changed into some more loose clothing. I climbed into bed, gently moving Shinku with me so that she was under the covers close by. "Comfy?" I asked.

She nodded. "Sorry about this, I-I just...don't like the orbs all that much..." she said. I hugged her close, and slowly, I could feel her hug back, before small, little snores started to come from her. I felt myself starting to drift off too, before I felt something gripping my back under the covers.

"S-Sorry, Mary, sir, b-but...I-I don't sleep well...o-on my own. Is t-this...fine?" I sighed a little, some part of me expecting this. I reached my arm around to pick her up and move her in front so that I could hold her too, wordlessly answering her question, and too tired to go into detail.

Right before I went to sleep, I felt another one scootch in. "I thought you liked the ball, Zhou..."

"I do. But I felt like I was missin' something bein' in it tonight."

I gave her an annoyed look, but instead welcomed it and felt the group close to me start to fall asleep too, the small bundle of puppets letting out their own brand of snores. So this was my life, now. Sleeping with a bundle of small friends. I couldn't bring herself to mind all that much, though. They felt warm, and something about it made me...really happy. I hoped things could stay like this forever, just a group of growing friends on an adventure for truth, growth, excitement. If I wasn't as exhausted as I was, it would have kept me up from my mind racing, but clearly that wasn't the case, as I felt myself drift off, my snores harmonizing with the bundle of puppets in my arms...

A figure could be seen watching the display from the window. She had a warm smile as she saw the girl bundled together with her new puppet friends. Something about her happy smile was infectious to the woman. She had come to check on them just to be sure, but it was clear she could take care of herself. Perhaps she was being silly. With a twirl of her parasol, she walked forwards into a gap, disappearing from sight.

-Chapter 4 END


	6. Chapter 6

Day 2, 10:00 AM: Sunny

The sunlight creeping in through the window was enough to slowly rouse me up from sleep. Good god, it felt good to not wake up to an alarm clock. Slowly, I pulled myself up with a stretch as I started to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. Shinku was already out of bed, stretching herself and getting herself ready to go. Zhou was sitting at the end of the bed, watching. And Perna, well, she hadn't moved from her spot from last night, still fast asleep. From the way she acted yesterday, I don't she's ever had a night that pleasant, especially with that dreamy smile on her face.

"Wow...you're up early, you two."

Shinku nodded at me, and Zhou gave a backwards wave. "Just wanted to be ready whenever you were, Master."

"An' I don't sleep much t' begin with, so here I am," said Zhou with a chuckle.

Perna shifted in her sleep a little, finally waking up groggily. She had clearly been out like a light. It took her a moment to remember the situation she was in and gasped slightly. "O-Oh! Were you a-all...waiting on me? I'm sorry!" she said, bowing her head forward.

I reached over to pat her on the head. "Don't worry, I just got up too." The poor girl was so flustered so easily; they'd have to work on that.

"An' stop apologizin' already, would ya? Save it for when it'd actually matter," Zhou said, not even turning around but chiding the girl in her own way.

"I-I'm so-oh...A-Alright...so, Mary, sir, what are we doing today?"

I had to stop and consider that. They needed to make their way to their first gym, that being farther ahead in Pewter if the map was right. They'd have to pass through Viridian Forest, too. That might be tricky...I clasped both of my hands together to get their attention. "Okay! The first thing we're doing today is making sure everyone is on par with each other! So...we're gonna be doing a little training today, and then heading for our next destination."

Shinku nodded, wordlessly accepting what I had to say. "O-Okay! You believed in me, so I'm...going to do my best!" said Perna, looking determined. Zhou just laughed and gave a salute. It didn't take long for me to get dressed and ready to go, and our intrepid little group found themselves back to the area we first met Perna. It was still rather early, and devoid of other trainers, so it was the perfect time to work on building up our team's experience.

The wilds were out in force today, with puppets going about their business and eager for a fight. Shinku and Zhao were handling themselves quite well, picking up on the flow quite quickly. Perna, however, took a little bit longer before things started to click into place for her. Her small wings were surprisingly strong, and were quite effective at stirring up strong gusts of wind. At first, she seemed terrified of battle, and had to have one of the other two jump in occasionally. However, eventually, I could see her expression change, into something slightly more confident. Something told me we wouldn't be fixing this right away, but as a gradual process. At the very least, she was having less problems simply battling.

The ArtBook that the Professor had given us seemed to have some sort of a numerical listing for the puppets that were currently with me. I wasn't quite sure how that worked, but I figured it was just a science thing. The group kept going until the ArtBook listed all three of them at "Level 10." I wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but it was a good bit higher than what they started at, so I was satisfied.

"That should be good. You guys ready t-"

"Yeah, that was great, Inaba!"

A familiar voice cut off whatever I was going to get out, from across the route. Almost on instinct, I ran in the direction of the voice, and I could feel a big grin on my face the whole time. It wasn't long before I found the source of the voice, that being a happy Ren holding Inaba tight in a hug.

"Oh, hey Mary!" she said with a wave. Inaba did the same with her sleeve dangling at the end of her arm. "What brings you out here? Oh, is this some of your puppets?" She said, leaning down to get a good look at Perna. She shrinked back at first, but relaxed a bit into Ren's open palm, cuddling affectionately. "Aww, how cute!"

"Yeah, we wanted to make sure everyone was prepared for the trip. You too?"

Ren nodded. "I heard the trip to Pewter can be tough for beginners, so I wanted to be sure. Plus, I kinda wanted to see the Puppet League firsthand, even if I couldn't get in."

"Wait, that's here?" I said with a puzzled look. Admittedly, I hadn't looked too hard at the map, but I figured it was farther out of the way.

She nodded again, beckoning me to follow. "Come on, come see!" We walked a fair distance before coming across a truly massive building in the middle of the route. It was awe inspiring, and screamed "power." "Wooow..." I couldn't help but let out. For me, this was my end goal. More than just as a trainer, but for Yukari's little game, too.

"Isn't it incredible? This is every trainer's ultimate goal, to take on the Elite 4 and try for a shot at being Champion!" That's right, for Ren, this was just part of the experience. She didn't have anything like that on her mind. Hopefully, she could stay that way and just enjoy the ride.

"Hey, Mary..." she said, looking somewhat nervous. "Would you like to have a rematch? I kind of want to see how much we've both grown! Plus, I want to see your cute puppets in action!" Ren said with a cute smile. More and more I was noticing how this journey was helping her confidence.

"Ya said ya won the last one, right kid? It'd probably be rude to turn her down, now dont'cha think?" said Zhou from behind. She had a point, it was only fair. Plus, he wanted to see how much things had changed.

"...alright! We'll do it!" I said. She looked positively overjoyed at my answer, and I was caught off guard by the sudden hug, one that was jumping up and down. Not entirely a bad thing, though, as I found myself hugging back just as fast.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you! Oh, should we, uh, move somewhere else...?" she said, noticing the field they were in.

I shook my head at the question. "Nah, right here should be fine. It'll be like a real trainer battle!"

"Okay, then...let's all do our best!" She said, detaching from the hug and moving a fair distance away. She reached into her bag and pulled out an orb, throwing it to release a Puppet I'd never seen before. The ArtBook labeled it as a Wriggle, some kind of bug. It had green hair, and draped itself in a black cloak. It seemed pretty serious, and silent.

Perna chimed in while I was considering my first move, pulling at my skirt. "I...I'd like to go first! I want to prove myself!"

While I didn't know anything about what this puppet was capable of, I knew Perna had been building up her confidence over the course of the day. She had faith in herself now, so she would at least give her the chance she wanted. "Alright, but don't push too hard, okay? We don't know what we're dealing with here..."

She nodded, a fire in her eyes that I hadn't seen before. "I-I won't let you down!" she said, fluttering in front of me. She was trying to size up the opponent, but the stoic nature it put on was making that difficult. Without warning, she tried a fierce Gust attack to push it off balance, which seemed to definitely have an effect on it, but not enough to blow it off of it's feet. However, it made no retaliation. It just stood there...staring. To say it was unnerving was the understatement of the century.

"Something's weird about this...be careful out there, Perna!"

She nodded, but seemed confident. She let out another powerful flap of her wings, pushing the puppet back ever so slightly. She seemed ready to let out another, expecting yet another turn of that deathly silence, before the figure rushed forward at a blinding speed, a black and green blur before striking with an absolutely brutal kick to the side of Perna's head, the blow sending her flying and careening into the ground, the impact enough to drag her through the ground when she landed. It had tattered her dress as she laid, battered and bruised, and hanging on by a thread.

"PERNA!" I screamed, unsure of how to react to the situation. If Perna took another hit like that, there was no way she was going to make it. I felt my entire body tense up as the image of her, prone on theg ground, was the only thing I could see.

"Bimo! That's too rough!" I heard Ren say. "We're not trying to kill someone, it's just a spar!"

"...spar?" I heard a new voice say. I assumed it was the other puppet. "A 'spar' should be considered training, right? No opponent will give you that courtesy."

"B-But..." she said back. She was clearly as distraught as I was.

Lost in a sea of indecision, I felt a slap across my face that dragged me back into reality. As my vision could focus on something else again, I noticed it was one of Shinku's dolls. "Master, make the call!"

I shook off the indecision plaguing my thoughts. They alone weren't going to save Perna. I saw the puppet called Bimo going in for the finishing blow. "SHINKU!"

One of the same dolls launched forward from behind me, grabbing her and quickly throwing Perna into my arms as she rushed forward to intercept the blow from the green haired puppet, forming a shield using a few puppets and blowing the other back. "I've been watching your movements," Shinku said, recalling the batch of dolls to her person, "and I know how ton react to it, now." Perna was breathing heavily as I cradled her in my arms, and she looked like a mess.

The one that Ren called Bimo looked Shinku intently. "...you seem like you know what you're doing. Good." Wordlessly, the Wriggle rushed forward to deliver another strike, this time from behind, but the dolls she manifested took the blow with a clang against their shield. The group quickly dispersed, leaving it wide open for a blast from Shinku's palm, a condensed strike of kinetic energy that flew Bimo back, spinning through the air.

At first, it seemed to land on its feet, sliding backwards as it stood, before going down on one knee, panting. It seemed the previous attacks combined with the blows from Shinku took their toll, and it could no longer stand. "...well done. You win." She nodded to Ren, who jumped a little when she realized she needed to take action, the previous hit still having an affect on her too, it seems. She returned Bimo to its ball without a word.

From her shoulder, her other puppet perked up when it put two and two together. "Hey, hey, is it my turn yet?! Yaaay! Let's go!" Inaba said, jumping off of Ren's shoulder and bopping back and forth, ready for a scrap. It clearly had energy to spare.

Shinku readied herself to start, but felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I think it'd be good if you took it easy, alright? You're hiding how hurt you are pretty well, but it'd be no good if you pushed yourself too hard, eh?" said the wizened voice of Zhou. Both of us were surprised to see her there, since last time I noticed her, she was a fair distance behind the two of us. She scowled a little, clearly upset that she had read her like a book, and looked back to my order.

"...she's right, Shinku. Swap out."

She nodded at the order. "As you wish." She said, moving back to my side.

"Awwwwww...you're not gonna give me that fight, Shinku?!"

"Don't you worry about that, runt. I'm more than you can handle." said Zhou with a wily smile on her face.

"You better, old woman!" She said, charging forward to start the fight herself. Zhou didn't seem too perturbed by the act, gathering a lump of dirt in her hands. Right before she would have collided with her, Zhou flung that same dirt directly at Inaba's face, obscuring her vision as the slap that came from Inaba sailed harmlessly past Zhou's body. "AUGH, MY EYES!" Inaba cried out as it tried to wipe them away.

Zhou let out a little chuckle at her surprise. "You better be careful there, kid. Not everyone's gonna fight fair out there." She said before taking one of Inaba's dangling sleeves in her hand, spinning her forward and delivering a strong sock to her face.

"Y-You're pretty good, for an old timer, ain't ya? But I ain't givin' up that easy!" She said, before going for a blast out of her eyes. Zhou quickly moved out of the way before throwing another splotch of dirt in her eyes. "AW DAMMIT, NOT AGA-" was all she got out before taking the powerful shoulder charge that sent her flying, landing face first. "Alright, alright, I give! I'm sick of getting mud thrown in my eyes! I'm done!"

Zhou let out a hearty laugh at her victory. Ren quickly scooped up Inaba and placed her on her shoulder, and ran over to me.

"We need to get to a center!" Her look was one of pure concern, and she didn't seem upset at all about losing, but was instead worried about Perna's health. Her breathing had stabilized, but she was still badly hurt enough that she was out cold.

"Y-Yeah, we should." I weakly said back, the two of us (along with Shinku on my own shoulder and Zhou keeping pace behind us) ran all the way back to Viridian, where Perna was put into intensive care.

The two of us were left to sit for a few hours. I told Ren that it was fine, but she wanted to stay regardless. She felt personally responsible for all of this. "I...I never wanted to hurt anyone...I-I just wanted to...be a trainer and have fun with puppets, you know? I didn't want...this..." She looked like she was about to cry.

I quickly wrapped her into a hug of my own. "Ren, it's okay. This...happens. It's not something you should blame yourself for."

"B-But..."

"Shh, it's okay. Don't beat yourself up over this, alright? Accidents happen."

Something in Ren seem to pour out at that point as she accepted the hug and started to sob a little. I stayed with her for what felt like hours like that, just letting her let it all out. In a way, this was an experience for both of us. Neither of us had ever seen a puppet so close to death. So close to the idea that, in that instant, they could have ceased to exist. In a way, it was chilling for both of us. I rocked a little back and forth in an effort to calm her in the hug, but I couldn't help but cry a little, too.

It was about 4 hours before the nurse came back out, with a familiar green haired fairy on a stretcher. She looked good as new, as the both of us rushed forward to see her. "Perna, how are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Better than ever! Thanks for worrying about me, though." she said with a big smile.

Ren sheepishly approached Perna next. "I...I'm really sorry...Bimo sometimes takes these kinds of things really seriously, and-"

"It's fine, really! We...we all knew the risks. Every puppet does, before a battle. So don't worry about it, okay, Ren, sir?"

Ren only nodded back, likely a little relieved internally. I looked at her for a minute. Even as she continued to get more confident, she was still the same caring girl I knew deep down. "So, Ren, what are you going to do now?"

"M-Me? I think...I'll stick around here and train a little. It seems like...a good area, don't you think?"

I nodded, thinking the same thing earlier. "Probably a smart idea. We're gonna head North to Pewter, though. We're not gonna get anywhere unless we start working on this whole Gym Challenge thing, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be heading that way eventually, but I-I just want to be sure, is all...A-And Mary?" she said, before pulling me into another tight hug. "Thank you. Really." she whispered into my ear, her breath rubbing against it.

I felt a sharp blush creep up on my face at that. "S-Sure, Ren. Y-You know I'll always b-be there for you, right?"

She pulled back with a giggle, our eyes locked. I never noticed how pretty her eyes were. "Of course. I'm so lucky to have you. I guess you should be on your way before it gets too late, right?"

It took me a moment to collect my thoughts. "R-Right! Are we ready to go, guys?" Shinku and Perna nodded, while Zhou gave a half-hearted salute. "T-Then...you take care of yourself while we're gone, alright?"

"You too. We'll see each other again. Take care, alright?"

With that, our little group made our way out of the center. Right as we made our way out of both eye and earshot of the center, I heard Zhou perk up from the back. "Man, you got it bad for that girl, don't you?"

I felt my entire body light up in embarrassment as I turned to face her. "I-It's not like that! Ren's just...a really good friend, that's all."

She seemed to chuckle at that response. "It's not good to lie to yourself, you know?"

"W-Whatever! Let's just go!" I said, whirling back around and stomping onward in a huff. Zhou was just teasing, she always just saw Ren as a friend! A friend that...sometimes she thought was kind of attractive. There's nothing wrong with that! We're just...friends.

...right?

-Chapter 6 END


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